The New “Reverse Transfer” Student
Due to the present economy, there seems to be a new trend beginning in college admissions. Instead of the normal flow of students who move from two-year institutions to four-year institutions; more and more students are becoming “reverse transfers”, or students who leave four-year universities to attend a community or junior college.
For instance, Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio had an 11 percent increase in the number of “reverse transfer” students so far this year. These students came from a variety of public and private institutions around Ohio. Last year, 86% of the “reverse transfers” to CCC came from public institutions, while 14% came from private institutions.
However, this “reverse transfer” phenomenon is not just a regional trend. The recession has led to surge in community college enrollments this year. Nationally, the American Association of Community Colleges publicized that over 30% of all two-year students previously attended a four-year institution. They expect the number of “reserve transfers” to continue to rise as the economy worsens.
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College Bits And Pieces
- On Monday, the nation’s largest student-loan provider, Sallie Mae, will begin requiring borrowers who take out its private loans to make interest payments while they are still in college and repay their loans in 15 years or less, rather than the typical term of 15 to 25 years. The company’s goal is to reduce the costs of borrowing, thereby lowering the risk of default, and making private loans more attractive to investors.
- In a national address on Tuesday, March 10, President Barack Obama called for the simplification of a financial aid application. “Never has a college degree been more important. And never has it been more expensive,” Obama said. “We will simplify federal college assistance forms so it doesn’t take a Ph.D. to apply for financial aid.” However, according to many college financial aid directors, this “simplification” process will take several years to complete.
- Applications for federal financial aid are up way up this year. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators reports that it has already processed 3 million FAFSA forms for the upcoming 2009-10 school year, a 20 percent jump from a year ago in the same time period. Federal direct-lending volume also increased to $20.2 billion, up $7.1 billion over a year ago.
- Harvard University will reduce about 15 percent the amount it draws from its endowment to fund operations during the next two years, resulting in a $52 million cut next year to the budget. Harvard’s endowment, the largest of any school in the U.S., fell 22 percent, or $8 billion, from July 1 through Oct. 31, 2008 putting the fund on course to have its worst performance in at least four decades. “Our strong sense is that an eventual recovery will take longer, and that we must therefore begin to accommodate a new economic reality for the university,” said John Longbrake, Harvard University’s spokesman.
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